He shook me off without even glancing at me. Lance was doing his best to block the punches, but Cal was so furious, so intent on kicking the shit out of him that he wasn’t giving Lance a chance to recover from the initial sucker punch.
“You crazy son of a bitch,” I yelled as I jumped on Cal’s back, my hands clawing in his hair and slipping around his face to cover his eyes and scratch his cheeks. “Get the hell off him. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Cal reacted instantly. He jumped up from Lance’s body and swung around, using his hands to pry me away and bring me into a bear hug, his huge arms enclosing me until I could no longer fight him.
“Let me go!” I screeched as I shifted my head to the side and bit the flesh of his bicep.
He grunted as I dug in my teeth, then released me, sending me flying to the side.
Lance pushed himself to his feet, his face a bloody mess, one eye already swelling shut. Cal rubbed at his arm, my bite leaving an angry red welt. Everyone was panting and looked ready to go on the attack once again. Fists were clenching and eyes were narrowed, lips curled into sneers.
“He has no right to touch you other than for training.” Cal’s voice was still edged with anger, his breaths coming out in giant heaving pants.
“Why? Does it make you jealous that he was comforting me, Cal? What right do you have to claim me? You don’t want me, remember?” I snorted. “Other than to satiate your needs in the bedroom.”
Cal glared at me. “You’re mine.”
“No. I’m. Not,” I growled. “You don’t own me and I don’t want you. There’s nothing you could do to convince me to sleep with you again, you fucking asshole. And now, I find out that I’m supposedly stuck with you for eternity. What a shitty deal that is. I’d much rather be bonded with someone like Lance. At least he gives a fuck about me.”
Cal flinched at my words, and Lance whipped his head toward me.
“You don’t mean that, Morgan,” Lance warned.
I was nodding before he even finished his sentence, my eyes never leaving Cal’s. “Oh, yes I do. You’re everything a woman could want in a partner. Caring, compassionate, respectful. Everything that Cal is not.”
Lance took a step toward me but froze when Cal shifted his murderous eyes in his direction. “No. Morgan, you just don’t understand Cal’s reasons. He can be all those things too.”
I frowned as I turned my gaze toward Lance. Despite the fact that Cal had just kicked the shit out of him, he was defending the man?
“That’s okay, Lance, I understand.” Cal’s cold words rolled over me, forcing me to look back at him. “I guess it’s for the best that I go ahead and break the bond then.”
“No, Cal, you can’t.” Lance’s voice sounded desperate. “She doesn’t understand what she’s saying. Maybe if you explain yourself…”
Cal’s icy glare pierced me. “No, this is clearly what she wants, and I’ve found out how to do it.” A muscle ticked in his jaw as he clenched his teeth.
“What do you mean?” Lance asked.
My gut roiled with a sudden feeling of dread. This was only a fight, wasn’t it? Everyone was just saying things out of anger, right? All I wanted was for Cal to react, to say the things that we were both really feeling.
Cal gave me one last hard glare before heading to the door. “I’ll be back in a few days, and when I return, the bond will be broken.”
Lance trailed after him. “What do you mean, Cal? What are you going to do?”
Cal paused at the door but didn’t turn around. “I’m going to betray my Huntress and sleep with another woman. That’ll break the bond and free her, just as she wants.”
Lance rushed toward him, but Cal spun around and slammed his fist into Lance’s gut, sending the air out of him in a whooshing moan. He pointed his finger in my direction and sneered. “You won’t have to worry about an eternity with someone like me, Morgan. I’ll take care of that tonight.” Without another word, he left and let the door slam closed behind him.
His words hit me like a train. Betray my Huntress. Sleep with another woman. I collapsed to my knees, my legs suddenly too weak to hold me up. “Lance?” I whispered. “What have I done?”
I raised my hands to my face. I wanted Cal to get angry. I wanted him to get so angry that he would finally admit that he cared for me. Instead, I had pushed him so far he vowed to part from me permanently. His words were enough to shred my heart. What would his actions do to me?